1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of distributed multimedia and computing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to a multimedia and computing system in which processing resources are intelligently allocated across plurality of multimedia nodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
When subscribing to a cable or satellite television service, a cable or satellite receiver is typically required for each television set within the user's home. One problem with this scenario is that cable and satellite receivers, or “set-top boxes,” are costly to manufacture, particularly those equipped with mass storage devices for storing television programming (commonly known as “Personal Video Recorders” or “PVRs”). As such, requiring an individual set-top box for each television set is an unreasonable solution in many cases (e.g., particularly if the user has numerous television sets).
To solve this and other problems, the assignee of the present application has developed a multimedia system and associated technologies for distributing multimedia content (e.g., cable/satellite television programming) from a primary receiver device to a plurality of secondary devices. The primary receiver device is a relatively high-powered device (i.e., relative to the secondary devices), capable of concurrently processing multiple satellite/cable channels and distributing those channels to the secondary devices. Because most of the signal processing load is handled by the primary receiver device, the secondary devices can be manufactured relatively inexpensively, resulting in a more efficient solution for the end user and the cable/satellite service provider.
Embodiments of one such multimedia system are set forth in the co-pending application entitled Multimedia and Computing System, filed Sep. 1, 2000 (Ser. No. 09/653,964), which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and which is incorporated herein by reference. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in one embodiment of the multimedia system, a media server 110 (e.g., a “set-top box” or game console) equipped with a processor and a mass storage device acts as a central repository for decoding and storing multimedia content and distributing the multimedia content to a plurality of distributed nodes. More particularly, the media server 110 processes multimedia content from Internet communication channels 120 (e.g., DSL, cable modem), broadcast communication channels 130 (e.g., digital/analog cable, satellite), and/or Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”) communication channels 170 (i.e., standard telephone) to provide a stable, real-time home media network 140 for a plurality of network devices 150-151, 160-166.
When the signal processing and storage resources of a primary device are spread across a plurality of secondary devices, it is important to allocate those resources in an intelligent manner. For example, if a television set coupled to a particular secondary device is off, it would be beneficial to communicate this information back to the primary device so that the primary device can reallocate the multimedia resources consumed by the secondary device (which is not being used) to a different secondary device, and/or to the storage device on the primary node itself.
The Device Sensing Application (mentioned above) describes a system for detecting the states of a plurality of secondary devices (referred to as “receiving nodes”) and reallocating tuners within the primary device (referred to as the “originating node”) based on the detected states. However, depending on the system configuration and system utilization, resources other than tuners may be limited (e.g., hard drive subsystem resources, wireless bandwidth, decryption subsystem resources, . . . etc). Accordingly, it would be beneficial to develop a system in which various different types of system resources, including tuners, may be intelligently allocated across a plurality of receiving nodes.